Eating With Jesus - A Continual, Defiant Nevertheless [Ryan Ashley]

John 2:1-11; 15:11; 16:24; 17:13,

Philippians 4:4-10, Deuteronomy 14:22-26

John 2:1-11

15:11; 16:24; 17:13 (One Slide)

1. God is the most joyful being in all of the universe. 

2. God’s plan for your life is to grow and mature you into the kind of person who is as joyful as he is.

Joy is an overall condition of the heart

“The decision to set the mind on the higher things of life is an act of the will. That is why celebration is a discipline. It is not something that falls on our heads. It is a result of a consciously chosen way of thinking and living.”

Richard Foster

Philippians 4:4-10

1. Surrender the Illusion of Control over to God

2. Give Thanks

3. Focus your attention on all that is good in the world

“The command in verse 8, to think about all the wonderful and lovely things listed here, runs directly opposite to the habits of the mind instilled in us by the modern media. Read the newspapers: their stock-in-trade is anything that is untrue, unholy, unjust, impure, ugly, of ill repute, vicious, and blameworthy. Is that a true representation of God’s good and beautiful world? How are you going to celebrate the goodness of the creator if you feed your mind only on the place in the world which humans have made ugly? How are you going to take steps to fill your mind instead with all the things that God has given us to be legitimately pleased with, and to enjoy and celebrate?”

N.T. Wright

Deuteronomy 14:22-26

 “Joy is a continual, defiant "nevertheless’.”